Five seniors recognized in prestigious Siemens Competition

One Blair student was chosen as a regional finalist and four others as semifinalists in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology today. Andrew Kung, Benjamin Lee, Boris Vassilev and Yang Yang were named to the semifinalist status, while Louis Wasserman was named a regional finalist. Each conducted a individual research project over the summer as part of the Senior Research Project class, a two-semester Magnet elective, and produced up to a 20-page-long research paper submitted in early October.

The Siemens Foundation aims to recognize outstanding students in science, math and technology for their research efforts. "The Foundation helps nurture tomorrow's scientists and engineers," according to its web site. The Siemens Competition, in association with The College Board, selects up to 300 submitted research projects for semifinalist status, as well as 30 individual and 30 team projects for regional finalist status.

Wasserman will have the opportunity to present his project in front of a panel of judges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from Nov. 9-10. At MIT, he will be required to answer several questions from the panel and give both a poster board and oral presentation to compete against four others. The regional winner will advance to the national competition on Dec. 2 in New York City.

While the regional winner receives $3,000 in scholarship money and the chance to win from $10,000 to $100,000 at the national competition, Wasserman will receive $1,000 just for showing up at MIT. Blair will also automatically receive $2000 to aid science, math and technology programs for his efforts. Each of the four semifinalists from Blair will receive recognition packages.

Last year, six Blair students were named semifinalists and two moved on to the regional competition.

Note: Andrew Kung is a SCO Sports Editor and Copy Editor, Boris Vassilev is a SCO Entertainment Editor and Online/Print Coordinator, and Louis Wasserman is a SCO Senior Technical Staff and Chief Copy Editor.